An HTTPS hijacking click-fraud botnet infects almost 1 million computers

Over the past two years, a group of cybercriminals has infected almost 1 million computers with malware that hijacks search results, even when they’re served over encrypted HTTPS connections.

The click-fraud botnet earns its creators money through Google’s AdSense for Search program, according to researchers from security firm Bitdefender. The affiliate program, intended for website owners, allows them to place a Google-powered custom search engine on their websites to generate revenue when users click on ads displayed in the search results.

Instead of doing that, this botnet’s operators intercept Google, Bing, and Yahoo searches performed by users on their own computers and replace the legitimate results with those generated by their custom search engine. They do this using a malware program that Bitdefender products detect as Redirector.Paco.

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